Cheerwine from Asheville, NC

[SODAPOPBOB]

1. Google Earth aerial. Red teardrop is building located at 15 Carolina Lane. Red arrow is the alley.

2. Google Earth street-view. Looking down Carolina Lane (Alley). The brick building on the left is the old hardware store shown on the 1917 map.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Here are the Asheville directory listings for bottlers in 1922 - 1924 - 1925

(The 1919-1920-1921-1923 directories are not included on the site. The listings only go to 1951).

If a bottler acquired the Cheerwine account soon after Mint Cola moved out in 1921, there's a "possibility" it was one of these.

I searched every directory between 1922 and 1951 using the keyword Cheerwine but every result came up "No Matches Found."

Here's the link again ...

[URL=http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/books/asheville_city_directories/default_ashe_city_direct.HTML]http://toto.lib.unca.edu/..._ashe_city_direct.HTML

The directory attachments are dated appropriately ... Take your pick as to who "might" have nabbed the Cheerwine account.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

In the event that one of the 1922-1924-1925 bottlers did acquire the Cheerwine account and bottled it throughout the years non-stop, here's the 1952 directory listing again to show who was still around when Morb's bottle was issued ...

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

If it was one of the 1922 thru 1925 bottlers who acquired the Cheerwine account and bottled it throughout the years, the only two still there in 1952 were ... 1. Coca Cola 2. Orange Crush

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Morb

I stumbled onto this book and thought you might be interested in it. (Providing you don't already have it). Rutherford County, N.C. is due is east of Buncombe County and shares borderlines. I looked around but could not find a copy for sale and it appears to have been published in a limited quantity of only 300 copies. However, I did discover that the Rutherford County Library has a copy. But whether it is transferrable to other libraries, I don't now. I thought because it has a history of Cheerwine in Rutherford County that it might include something about Asheville in Buncombe county.

[URL=http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/signed-crown-jewels-antique-embossed-435118732]http://www.worthpoint.com...que-embossed-435118732

"Crown Jewels or Antique Embossed Crown-Top Sodas Found in Rutherford County, NC, with a History of the Local Bottling Industry by Todd Lavender and Grant Hardin, c.1996, 9x11, plastic comb binding, 104 pgs, black/white and color photos, privately published, NC. This copy signed by both authors on title page. Features histories of Rutherford County’s bottling industry including Budwine, Cheerwine, RC Cola and the Laurens Glass Works, Nu-Grape and Cool Springs beverages, Red Rock Cola, Sun Drop Bottling Co, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Includes black/white photos of numerous bottles that are also described and rated as to scarcity plus additional black/white and color photos of buildings and advertising related to soft drinks bottled in the region. Scarce reference book - I was told by one of the authors that only 300 copies were printed."


1. Cover of book
2. County map w/Rutherford and Buncombe connected

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I'm still doing my homework on Cheerwine but have discovered their first bottle was straight-sided, had CW embossed on the shoulder, and had a paper label. According to the Cheerwine website, the first paneled bottle was introduced in 1920 and had three cherries embossed on the shoulder. I have read where the cherry-embossed bottles are extremely rare. As you can see, I still have some homework to do ...

1. Straight-sided Bottle w/ CW on shoulder and paper label = 1917 to 1920
2. Paneled Bottle w/ cherries on shoulder = 1920 to 19??
3. Paneled Bottle w/ CW on shoulder = 19?? to 195?

~ * ~

Apparently, Cheerwine's first slogan was "For Health and Pleasure." I looked but could not find an original (1917-1920) paper label. The closest thing I could find is the tin sign pictured below that has "For Health - For Pleasure" on it. Notice the bottle pictured on the sign is the paneled version and has CW on the shoulder, which I'd say dates the sign to sometime in the 1920s. ???

~ * ~

http://www.cheerwine.com/history

1917
In Salisbury, L.D. Peeler wanted to create a soft drink of his own, and bought some very interesting cherry flavor from a traveling salesman from St. Louis. He experimented, mixing cherry with other flavors, and stumbled upon this singular flavor sensation, and Cheerwine was born. Anyone who tasted it, loved it. And soon, the Legend began to spread. In 1920, glass bottles etched with three cherries and the Cheerwine name were produced to replace the original paper label. Shortly thereafter, similar cherries appeared on slot machines and three cherries became synonymous with good luck. Coincidence? Doubtful.

After outselling another L.D. Soft drink (Mint Cola) in 1924 the company name was changed from Mint Cola Bottling Co. to Cheerwine Bottling Co. The change came as no big surprise to anyone, except for Herbert Von Kennel, who was Salisbury's only mailman at the time. ~ * ~ The company’s first slogan: “For health and pleasure.” When the Mint-Cola Bottling filed for bankruptcy, Peeler bought the franchise and used it to found the Carolina Beverage Corporation. [URL=http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/282/entry/]http://www.northcarolinah...ncyclopedia/282/entry/ Pictures ... 1. Newspaper Article ~ The Enterprise ~ Albemarle, N.C. ~ May 3, 1917 (The earliest one I could find)2. Early Cheerwine Bottles 3. Cheerwine Sign

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

I especially like this ad and couldn't pass sharing it. You wouldn't believe the numerous typos I have seen in these early newspaper ads. Notice in this one where it say "Fleshly" picked instead of "Freshly" picked. The rest of the wording is funny, too, and they sure were trying to promote it. This must have been one of the first bottlers of Cheerwine. From ... The Enterprise ~ Albemarle, N.C. ~ May 24, 1917

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

For future reference ... Salisbury in Rowan County and Albemarle in Stanly County share borders and are about 50 miles apart.

 

[morbious_fod]

In the event that one of the 1922-1924-1925 bottlers did acquire the Cheerwine account and bottled it throughout the years non-stop, here's the 1952 directory listing again to show who was still around when Morb's bottle was issued ...

That is a very large assumption. Just because there is a franchise for Cheerwine covering the area at one point doesn't mean that they actually bottled it continuously until 1952. The Depression killed a slew of these independent bottlers off leaving franchise territories in limbo for decades, or indefinitely in many cases. Around 1951 there seems to have been a large push by Cheerwine to franchise which is when they entered the Johnson City Tennessee market for the first time. I would surmise that this would have been the same period that Cheerwine was re-established in Asheville after a long hiatus. The proof of this being that we don't have evidence of continued production of the brand from the 1920's through 1952 in the form of advertising or artifact evidence (bottles).

If someone were producing it during this period these bottles would be quite common.

 

[morbious_fod]

Here are the Asheville directory listings for bottlers in 1922 - 1924 - 1925

(The 1919-1920-1921-1923 directories are not included on the site. The listings only go to 1951).

If a bottler acquired the Cheerwine account soon after Mint Cola moved out in 1921, there's a "possibility" it was one of these.

I searched every directory between 1922 and 1951 using the keyword Cheerwine but every result came up "No Matches Found."

Here's the link again ...

[URL=http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/books/asheville_city_directories/default_ashe_city_direct.HTML]http://toto.lib.unca.edu/..._ashe_city_direct.HTML

The directory attachments are dated appropriately ... Take your pick as to who "might" have nabbed the Cheerwine account.

Moved out may not be the proper phrase here, and the actual phrase would give a clue to why these other businessmen might not have been so keen to grab the Cheerwine franchise. The proper phrase would be "went out of business", and no businessman worth his title is going to go with a soft drink which couldn't sustain a company with its sales. If a leader brand couldn't sell enough during the boom decade of the independent bottler then it would be viewed as sales poison. There were thousands of such sodas that came and went during the 1920's.